Growing up in Flint, Michigan, I have lived through the ups and downs of the auto industry. With its Chevrolet factories tying up traffic at shift change, belching smokestacks, and rumbling trams hauling auto bodies from Fisher Body to Buick Motor, Flint was a 24-hour town with three shifts working 7 days a week.
With a career in advertising, it wasn’t lost on me that in the mid 80’s Flint had the highest average annual income in the United States of over $50,000. Money poured into the community to sell goods and services to the auto workers and their families. Farming communities around Flint turned into suburbs. New schools were built. Families could have two cars in the driveway and maybe a motorcycle, a boat, or a weekend place up north. Life was good in Flint, Michigan.
I remember the day in 1994 when the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) was signed. I recall telling my cohorts, “That big sucking sound you hear...are jobs going to Mexico.”
Sad to say, I predicted life in Flint and all of Michigan would change.
Today, Flint is all but memories. Fisher Body is closed. The Buick factories and its World Headquarters are torn down. Fortunately, we have a Chevy truck plant still producing trucks to meet the demand. Across the state, auto manufacturing didn’t just dip, it took a nosedive.
The jobs are gone.
The people moved away.
Auto manufacturing is still part of our Flint culture, but it pales in comparison to the greatness of its day. Incomes dropped and without a strong tax base, the infrastructure crumbled leaving desperate communities.
Today, the per capita income in Flint, Michigan is $20,559. (Source: Census.gov)
The District of Columbia now holds the bragging rights to the highest per capita income in the country at $96,728. (Source: Statista)
You can’t ignore the disparity.
This is what happens when the government decides. They earn cushy wages and make the big decisions that affect all of America while the rest of us struggle to put food on the table and gas in the car.
This is NOT the American dream.
If we are to have a government of, for, and by the People, the People need to wake up and take action. We need to pull the power out of Washington, D.C., and put it back in the hands of the states where the Founders intended. Michigan people should make decisions about Michigan – not the professional politicians and bloated bureaucrats in D.C.
It's time for a reset.
An Article V convention of the states is the solution. Learn more about it. Sign the petition. And get involved. Our grassroots volunteers are making a difference every day. You can too!
